


Wouldn't You Like To Dance With Her

by kanemors



Category: Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 06:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17596511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanemors/pseuds/kanemors
Summary: All of the times Ben realized he was falling in love and the one time he acted on it.





	Wouldn't You Like To Dance With Her

*Could this be love at first sight, or should I walk by again?*  
*You're photogenically dressed, the conversation begins.*  
*Oh god, now what did I say? Let me start over again.*  
Ben watched his childhood crush walk past him and the whole world slowed down. He opened his mouth to speak, reaching out and grabbing her arm. She turned to look at him and almost immediately her eyes widened in recognition. She recognized him, why did that cause little butterflies in his stomach.   
"Beatrice? You look...." he furrowed his brows, trying to the of the word, "Different." he tensed when she looked insulted, putting up his hands in a preemptive attempt to sooth the wounds sure to be caused.  
"Different? You could've just said I look bad, you know."  
"It's not-" it was too late, she was stalking off and he dragged a hand down his face. So neither of them had changed a bit. He felt a hand on his arm and he looked over to see Hero, gazing at him in amusement.  
"Struggling? She's not in a very good mood right now..."  
"Clearly, tell her to get the stick out of her ass." he slipped past Hero, walking in the opposite direction of Bea and shook his head. Hero giggled softly and bunched her skirt up to her shins and took off running after her cousin. When she reached her, she linked there arms and grinned sweetly.  
"Benny said he hopes you feel better soon."  
"What?" Bea stumbled over the words, cheeks heating up, but Hero was already moving onto the next thing in the lock box that was her mind. So she fell silent and willed herself to stay focused on the words currently coming out of her cousin's mouth rather the words that had already been said.  
*Could this be love at first sight, oh wait I said that before.*  
*I need a place for the night, happy to sleep on the floor,*  
*But don't go out of your way and I won't talk anymore.*  
The next time Bea saw him was when she was walking, barefoot up to his door. She scowled even more as it swung open to reveal an amused Benedick staring at her. He opened his mouth to speak but Beatrice raised one, soaking wet hand to shut him up.  
"Just...Let me change. I don't care if you kick me out again. But I refuse to stay in that house tonight."   
"What happened?"  
"I'll tell you if you let me fucking change." he nodded, stepping to the side. Beatrice was drenched, head to toe and each breath she took caused a violent shutter to ride through her frame. He didn't want her to get sick so he let her change into a hoodie he had and some sweatpants. He set a cup of coco down in front of her, remembering how it was her favorite growing up. And as he was sitting down he noticed the way her shoulders shook violently. She was crying. His mouth went dry and all he could do was utter her name softly.  
"He fucking...pushed me into the pool. I can't swim, I told him that! If- If it wasn't for Hero-" she hiccuped and wiped her eyes angrily. "Is it legal to punch someone so hard their testicals get lodged in their throat?" Ben laughed. He couldn't help it. Only Bea would manage to made him so nervous while she sat there in a hoodie twice her size and sweatpants that fell off her hips. He shrugged slightly and grinned at her.  
"I wouldn't tell anyone." he noted the way her lips quirked upwards and how she immediately reached for the coco now that she was done with tears. "So, who was it?"  
"John."  
"Of course." they said in unison, sounding thoroughly unimpressed. Ever since John had spread those rumours about Hero, he's been after Bea for disproving them. Hero and Claudio had made up and Claudio had issued an apology to the whole family. Beatrice tore into John for the rumours.  
"Does that count as assault?"  
"What?"  
"My plan." Ben laughed again, crinkling his nose at the thought.  
"You'd have to hit him in the head, since he thinks solely with his dick." Beatrice's laughter filled the room and Ben smiled softly. She'd be ok.   
*Turn the lights off, I'm in love...*  
*Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to, kiss her?*  
*Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to, dance with her?*  
*Darkened nights and violent things, vaudevillian girls and violin strings,*  
*All of these are the prettiest things when I'm... in love...*  
Benedick watched as Hero and Beatrice twirled about on the dirt dance ring. Hero had daisies woven into her hair and wore a flower printed dress that billowed around her with each spin. And Beatrice had her hair tied up in a loose braid, she wore a white zip up blouse that was unzipped to nearly the bottom. A black bralette with straps criss crossing right under her ribs was worn under it. He knew the second Bea had come out in it that Hero had picked out the bralette. She wore black high waisted shorts with three gold buttons on each side of her hips. She looked gorgeous and Ben suddenly didn't want to go to this festival anymore. Her legs were covered by fishnet stockings, once again more likely than not a Hero choice, and she wore her favorite pair of boots. He was in love with both of them, just in different ways.   
Ben wanted to protect Hero from anything that could hurt her, she was so much like a little sister to him that it made his head spin. But, as he stared at Beatrice, he realized he wanted to pin her against a wall right now. The thought made him pull his gaze off of the girls in embarrassment. It felt wrong, watching them having harmless fun and thinking that. His face grew red and he pushed it into his hands, groaning weakly. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his friend, Pedro, grinning knowingly at him.  
"You've got it bad, friend."  
"And just *what* are you talking about?"  
"I saw you staring at her, Beatrice looks lovely today doesn't she?" his grin grew smug when he watched Ben's careful expression waver, "I might go ask for a dance." an elbow to the hip was what he got in response and he groaned, laughing.  
"You'd get worse from her."  
"You're right. You wouldn't."  
"What?"  
*Turn the lights off, I'm falling in love with you...*  
*Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to, kiss her?*  
*Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to, dance with her?*  
*Dark, dark nights and violent things, vaudevillian girls and violin strings,*  
*All of these are the prettiest things when I'm... in love...*  
It took encouraging from Pedro, and then from Claudio when he joined them but he did. He stood up and shambled over to Beatrice, suddenly feeling...inadequate. Hero stopped dancing with her to give him a knowing smirk before she dramatically bowed and skipped off. Now, that wasn't how he wanted this to go. He swallowed thickly and held out his hand.  
"May I...May I have this dance?" he flushed at the phrasing and mentally scolded himself for sounding so dumb but he felt Beatrice's hand in his and he was pulled from his thoughts.  
"Don't be so tense, it's weird, Ben." she stated, but smiled nervously. "I'd love to dance..." he allowed himself to be pulled into the dance, both of them dancing happily to the music. It was like they were in their own world and nothing else mattered. She pressed close to him, standing up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his cheek. His face grew four shades darker and he stared at her with wide eyes. The longer he watched her face for any sign of amusement or a hint that this was a joke, the more embarrassed she visibly grew.  
"What? Don't stare at me so much, dumbass..." he smiled ear to ear, leaning down and capturing her lips in his. He heard her grunt softly in surprise and for a moment she seemed like she was going to pull away, but then she was kissing back. Her kiss was gentler than he'd expected and he gave a happy sigh.  
The moment was interrupted by the sound of a wolf whistle, then Pedro's voice going "Oh shit I forgot he was kissing Bea....I should...go."


End file.
